Caledonia

A world of darkness awaits it's heros

Ruins

The party cautiously decended the staircase into the ruins. The staircase led them to a room filled with barrels of rancid wine. After fleeing from the noxious odors, they followed the corridor and encountered a Bugbear. They quickly smited the bugbear.

The party continued along the winding corridors, and found a room with a door. After the rogue unlocked the heavy door, they went into a room filled with a permanent fog. The room is apparently empty, save a single hallway. The party found the hallway, and it led to a room that appeared to have been some sort of torture chamber. The rogue managed to disable a trap device in the hallway. After going back thru the room with fog, they found that the hallway had a porticullus that had dropped halfway down. Quickly, they wiggled under the porticullis and countinued to the main corridor.

The party found a room with a large trash heap in one corner. They were quickly bombarded by an invisible foe. After several party members jumping into the rubbish heap and throwing much trash in the air, Awa kindly advised them where the foe was. The invisible foe quickly disappeared, and Awa informed them that it was a dretch, a minor devil.

The party entered a large hallway, and found a hidden door in the wall. The door led to a very narrow hallway, at the end of which was a small store room filled with edible food and full water barrels. The room had a sky light in it, which was somehow protected from allowing rain and creatures to enter the room. The party slept here for the night.

After refilling rations and water from the room, the party continued on. They encountered a room with a deep well in it. After determining that the well was several hundred or more feet deep, they decided to continue on. In the corridor, the party found a small statue, and Roywin immediately started to pay homage to it, seeing that it was of the gnome god Glittergold – Glittergold smiled upon Roywin, and granted her 2 extra hit points and 3 gold pieces.

The party continued along the corridor, and Awa quickly informed them that one of her ‘friends’ she liked to ‘play’ with was in the corridor. The ‘friend’ turned out to be a poly-morphing imp. Mist decided to carry the corpse of the imp, thinking that it might come in useful later. After defeating the imp, the party encountered a room with several doors in in. The chests in the room had rotting clothing in them, and appeared to have become nests for rats.

The party heard voices from one of the corridors, and decided they would go check it out. After following the winding corridor, the party found that they noises were from a band of 10 Kobolds. The party put up quite a fight, and managed to kill off all the Kobolds, but not without much damage being incurred. Kelgore sliced off his left pinky toe, and was severely damaged. Mist now has finely made Kobold armor that he took off of the lead Kobold. Awa, seeing how injured Kelgore was, suggested that they continue along to see one of her friends, named Puppy. Puppy was in a hidden room, and turned out to be a Blink Dog.

After Awa explained the situation to Puppy, Puppy kindly blinked the party back to town and quickly disappeared. Kelgore was quickly taken into the inn, and the innkeeper quickly sent his son to fetch a healer and wizard.

The beginning....

Along the road into the capital city of the isle, Caledonia, four travelers meet: Kelgor, a half-elf ranger, Mist, a human fighter, Vlad, an elven rogue, and Roywin, a gnome sorceress with a badger familiar named Point.

Roywin flirts with Vlad mercilessly, and Vlad takes several steps back, showing absolutely no interest in the sorceress at all. The party makes it’s way into town, and as night is falling, they decided to stay at the inn, located right on the edge of town. The innkeeper charges them an exorbitant 50 silver for a room, but at least he throws in a meager breakfast of porridge the next morning. While eating breakfast, the party hears tales of a water elemental in a town near the coast, destroying the earth and the rocks. Roywin, the gnome, is beside herself, and implores the party to go save the rocks from the evil creature. Mist hears of ruins to the east, in the forest, that may well have treasure in them, and encourages the party to go there before heading to the water elemental. The ruins, as the rumor goes, used to be barracks or some sort of outpost protecting a long-ago destroyed port on the edge of lake.

After purchasing arrows for a measly 2cp, and a quiver for 20sp, Vlad joins the rest of the party on their way out of town. Kelgor makes change with a money changer, who only charges a 1% change fee, which given the evil sorceress’s exorbitant taxes is relatively meager indeed.

The party follows the road to the forest, and finds wagon tracks. Kelgor climbs a tall tree and sees a clearing. The party follows the wagon tracks, and stumbles upon several Kobolds in front of the ruins. After defeating the reptilian vermin, the rogue is able to open the locked doors, to find rotting food in a storeroom, and a meager but relatively comfortable barracks room. A third locked door opens to reveal a party of 4 goblins, one of whom had as his dying words “Please, I beg you, beware of the bugbear”. In the room, the adventures find a spiral staircase leading down, that is covered by a large grate.

The party hunkers down in the barracks room for the night. The next day, they go hunting in the woods, only to become entranced by a lovely melody. Two of the party, Kelgor and Vlad, successfully avoid becoming entranced, and drag the other party members to safety. Not knowing what had happened, they leave Mist and Roywin in the ruins, with instructions to come look for them if they do not return in two hours. Alas, Kelgor and Vlad left the ruins, only to become entranced by the lovely music themselves. Two hours later, Roywin and Mist find them, and after stuffing their ears with leaves and scraps of ration cloth, sucessfully free Kelgor and Vlad from the music. Using their ventriloquism, the creatures doing this explain that they will not leave the party alone unless they are given shiny things. Mist quickly throws copper pieces out, and upon collecting them, the Grigs are satisfied.

The adventuring party continues to hunt for food, and manages to find four lizards. Alas, the party members start hearing a voice in their heads, saying that it wants to play. After much discussion and searching (and Vlad thinking he’s gone crazy), the party finds that it’s a playful pseudodragon named Awa. Roywin thinks this is great fun, and offers to play with Awa, who really just wants to play hide and seek. Awa threatens to play tag with the party when they won’t play with her, with her running and them tagging, and then them running and her stinging, so finally Kelgor and Vlad agree to play hide and seek. Awa begrudingly allows Mist to go cook dinner.

Awa rides on Roywin’s shoulder searching for Kelgor and Vlad. Vlad hides under the beds in the barracks, and Mist has one heck of a time pulling him out again. Kelgor, clever one that he is, runs to the spot the Grigs have been at, and throws 50cp out, pleading for their help. Two Grigs kindly jump on his shoulders, covering his ears, and Awa, Roywin and Point all fall under the music’s spell.

After Kelgor drags his companions back to the ruins, Awa takes quite a shine to him, saying that it was the most clever and fun thing in a long time. Awa explains that there was once a port, and the ruins were once an outpost protecting it. A great water elemental, some time ago, destroyed the port, and wiped out most of the lizardfolk that lived in the nearby swamp – mind you not all, but most. She has been lonely, but has had quite a bit of fun with travelers who come through the forest, such as the party of 6 goblins that came through earlier, although she only got to sting one of them. She also tells tales of kobolds and a bugbear. Mist amuses her greatly with his attempt to juggle, and Awa decides that she likes Kelgor so much for his cleverness that she’s going to stick around a while.

The party hunkers down for the night in the barracks room, with the intent of going down the stairs and facing the dangers of the remainder of the ruins in the morning.